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The party also announced plans to employ 30,000 additional detectives and forensics experts and 500 more prosecutors, in order to reduce court backlogs, and establish a Directorate for Victims of Crime, which would provide funding and support for crime victims. In the DA's crime plan, "Conquering Fear, Commanding Hope", the DA committed itself to increasing the number of police officers to 250,000. This formed the basis of the philosophy underlying the party's 2009 Election Manifesto, which seeks to build a society by linking outcomes to "opportunity, effort and ability". Former party leader Helen Zille has argued that this stands in direct contrast to the ruling ANC's approach to governance, which she maintains has led to a "closed, crony society for some".

In June 2026, the party's head of policy and Member of Parliament Mathew Cuthbert was appointed the party's new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). At the DA's Federal Congress in April 2026, Hill-Lewis was elected DA leader, defeating the DA's caucus leader in Sedibeng District Municipality, Sibusiso Dyonase. The party retained control of the Western Cape but with a reduced majority and failed to win Gauteng once again. In the general elections of 2019, the DA's national support declined for the first time in its history. The campaign received a certain amount of media attention, much of it somewhat sceptical. In her newsletter, she wrote that, "winning power in the Western Cape will allow us to show what cooperative governance between local authorities and a province can achieve." In the 2011 local government elections, the party won control of most of the municipalities in the Western Cape.

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• Having gone into opposition in the Western Cape in 2001 when the NNP formed a new coalition with the ANC, the demise of the NNP made the province a natural target for the party.

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• Law enforcement official Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi reportedly also accused the party Spokesperson on State Security, Dianne Kohler Barnard, of being a part of a crime syndicate.
• When municipalities collapse, crime thrives.
• Cabanac stated that he was the target of a successful smear campaign and that the comments in question were willfully taken out of context.

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• The ANC issued a detailed critique of the campaign, focusing especially on Suzman's role in the apartheid parliament.

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• It was built over many years by leaders who each strengthened this party in different ways, often in difficult times, and against the prevailing tide.

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The Democratic Alliance Youth (DA Youth), which came officially into being in late 2008, was first led by Makashule Gana until 2013, Mbali Ntuli led between 2013 and 2014, Yusuf Cassim led from 2014 to 2018 and Luyolo Mphithi led from 2018 to 2022. The party says that it is committed to ensuring that those entitled to land receive it in the form of direct ownership, and not as lifelong tenants. In contrast, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that the R3500 per month (R20 an hour) minimum wage was still not a living wage, and would only "advance the struggle for a living wage".

Current policies

In May 2026, the party set out a 100-day crime plan that included lifestyle audits of police officers, rebuilding Crime Intelligence and giving local governments a greater role in crime prevention. Cuthbert filled the position nearly five years after the previous CEO Simon Dickinson resigned following a year in the role. The party's Gauteng provincial leader Solly Msimanga was elected Federal Chairperson, the party's second-highest position, having defeated incumbent Ivan Meyer. On 4 February 2026, DA Leader John Steenhuisen announced that he would be stepping down from his party leadership role, to focus exclusively on his portfolio as Minister of Agriculture. The ANC failed to gain a majority of seats in the National Assembly after the election, leading to the DA agreeing to form a coalition of national unity (Third Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa), entering ruling government for the first time.

Health Tracking

The DA continues to support the introduction of new performance targets for teachers and schools, and also advocates a per-child wage subsidy, and a national network of community-based early childhood education centres. The DA supports guaranteed access to a core minimum of resources for each school, proper state school nutrition schemes for grade 1–12 learners, and measures to train 30,000 additional teachers per year. The DA's education programme, "Preparing for Success", focuses on providing adequate physical and human resources to underperforming schools.

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History

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Zille said the new DA would be, "more reflective of our rich racial, linguistic, and cultural heritage," and emphasized that she wanted it to be a "party for all the people" and not decline into a "shrinking, irrelevant minority." Having gone into opposition in the Western Cape in 2001 when the NNP formed a new coalition with the ANC, the demise of the NNP made the province a natural target for the party. The party also became kingmakers in the Western Cape province, where it formed a coalition government with the NNP. The modern day DA is in large part a product of the white parliamentary opposition to the ruling National Party. The party has also governed the Western Cape, one of the country's nine provinces, with a majority since the 2009 general election. The DA has a variety of ideologically liberal tendencies, including neoliberalism, social liberalism, classical liberalism, and conservative liberalism.

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DA raises alarm over DNA backlogs and safety following insider warning

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Between 2019 and 2021 it was led by Rory Jubber with Nigel Bruce acting as chairperson. Previously the DA Abroad was led by Ludre Stevens between 2009 and 2015 and then by Francine Higham between 2015 and 2019 with Morné Van der Waltsleben as Global Operations Chair from 2013 to 2017. In the Gauteng Province, the first dually elected Democratic Alliance Youth Provincial Executive Committee took office in November 2017 after they were elected at the Gauteng Provincial Congress the same year. The current Interim Federal Leader, Nicholas Nyati, was elected at the Interim Democratic Alliance Youth Federal Congress in 2022.

Democratic Alliance leaders have been alleged by controversial news media IOL to be embroiled in a R1.2 billion tender fraud. Cabanac stated that he was the target of a successful smear campaign and that the comments in question were willfully taken out of context. Following Cabanac's appointment he was described by the EFF and City Press newspaper as being "racist and a Nazi-sympathiser" for past comments leading to additional accusations of the DA as a whole of "being white supremacist". In 2019, some commentators speculated that the resignation of the former party's leader, Mmusi Maimane, was a sign of "racial tensions in the party". The Democratic Alliance is often accused by its critics in the media, and rival political parties, of being a "white party" although polling indicates that more than half (56.6%) of their support base is non-white. White voters constitute the largest single demographic group within the party's support base at 43.4%, followed by Coloured voters at 19.6%, Black voters at 18%, and Indian voters at 8.9%.

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Latest Campaigns

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The DA has been against the introduction of a national minimum wage, arguing that workers should be allowed to accept a wage of less than R3500 on their own terms. This fits into the party's broader vision of growing the economy by cutting red tape and regulations it claims is holding back South Africa's economic growth. The party suggests that by relaxing certain regulations in these zones, manufacturers and exporters would be able to grow faster and employ more people. The DA also supports the creation of Industrial Development Zones and Export Processing Zones. The DA supports an inflation-targeting monetary policy regime similar to that of the ANC government.